Storm
by SachiNyoko
Summary: Part three added. How much time had she spent comparing herself to Usagi, trying desperately to find it? Naruto x SM
1. Chapter 1

Blinking red digits read the time to be midnight, but she knew that was false. She'd fallen into fitful, uncomfortable sleep to no power in the sweltering mid-July weather only a few hours before, knocked out by the fierce thunderstorm still raging outside. _Thud, thud, thud_ went her brain against her skull, begging for aspirin, but she was too sluggish to move. The hum of rain against the window, the groan of her air conditioner as it tried to cool the room, became the only distinguishable sounds.

_Thud, thud, thud_.

Her eyes snapped open as she realized the intruding noise was not in fact her splitting headache, but someone at the door. For a moment she struggled, the sheets wrapped around her like a vice, until they finally landed in a heap on the floor. When her bare feet touched the hard wood, a shiver coursed from her feet to her scalp, rising chill bumps all over. She was covered in sweat and now freezing.

Still, endless scenarios of trouble ran through her head as she sprinted for the door and threw it open. A passing glimpse of the clock told her it was two in the morning. Her azure eyes clashed with a pair dark as midnight, just as the lightning flashed and fearsome thunder cracked through the silence. The eyes dropped from her face to her body and with a sickening lurch of her stomach she remembered she had stripped to her undergarments earlier to battle the intense heat.

When he raised his eyebrows, she scowled and dove for the bathroom, emerging moments later tying a bathrobe securely around the waist. The harsh expression softened as she examined the youth standing just inside her front door, his gaze shifting uneasily around the room.

"Sasuke?" His expression tensed and she crossed the room, placing her hand on his arm. He was frigid and soaked to the bone from the rain outside, and she had to withdraw her hand immediately. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Usagi, I just need a place to lay low for the night. If it's too much trouble, I will leave." Her lips thinned into a perfect line and she pointed toward the kitchen. It was a wordless exchange, but he understood and took a seat at the table while she moved back to the bathroom. She returned, dumping towels in his lap and then started a pot of coffee. He dried off, watching her move around the kitchen and push her locks of blonde hair out of her way.

Finally she deposited the steaming mug in front of him, straight black as he preferred it, and took the seat across from him, stirring cream into hers until it turned into a light beige color. Gathering her mane of hair, she slung it over one shoulder, mostly out of her way and took a long sip, not looking at him. "Are you going to ask what I'm doing here?"

"Would you tell me if I did?" Usagi sent him a wry smile, her endless blue eyes flickering with an emotion he could not identify. He had to turn away from her stare, but he heard her derisive snort of laughter anyway. "Don't worry, though, I won't run and tattle to Lady Tsunade. We aren't children anymore."

_Certainly not_, Sasuke thought, turning his dark eyes on her again, her pale, slender neck and the womanly curves she'd acquired. Above all that, her eyes that stared out the window to the persistent rain told the tale best. Usagi was not the same girl now that he had known in school, before everything, before he left.

The air was palpable, and Usagi imagined all the things she could say to Sasuke now. Why would he show up here, a ghost from her past, now of all times? She wanted to cry, to get angry and shout at him, to hug him and make him stay. So many emotions battling in her heart she felt she could drown in them at any moment, so she said nothing, not trusting herself to do so.

"You didn't come." She jerked in alarm at his sudden decision to speak, and appraised him with her inquisitive gaze. Realizing she had no intention of retorting, Sasuke continued, "Sakura came, I expected that. I didn't expect you not to, though."

Usagi emitted a strange noise, something feigning resemblance to a wounded animal, but he realized it was a mix of laughter and tears. "What should I have done? Should I have chased you down, threw myself in your path and begged you not to go? I have some pride, you know. Besides," she fixed him in place with a surprisingly sharp gaze. It pierced right through him, made his breath catch, "I knew I had lost you long before that night, Sasuke. I vied for a place in your heart at one time, but there was no room for me with all that vengeance."

"Usagi," he began, but stopped. There were no words he could think of to say. She was right, and painfully so.

"If I had come and you rejected me," Usagi paused and trembled, not wanting to say it but unable to stop herself, "Well, you had already broken my heart and I couldn't afford to let you crush me completely."

As soon as the words spilled form her lips she rose and dumped her coffee in the sink, trying to ignore her trembling hands as she rinsed the cup. "I'll get blankets, you can sleep on the couch--"

Her words ended with a small squeak as he whirled her around. Their faces held there, inches apart, the small of her back pressed none too gently against the counter. Usagi swallowed, shaking all over, but was surprised as his free hand stroked her cheek with a gentleness she didn't think he possessed.

"I waited," her blue eyes searched his for some meaning to this, but found none before he explained, "I waited for you that night. Maybe if you had come, it would have turned out differently. I'm sorry."

Usagi froze when his lips covered hers, tender yet demanding. Her heart may have stopped beating in her chest, the world stopped turning beneath her feet. It was more than she had ever imagined it could be.

Just like that, he was gone. The kitchen rang with silence. She clutched her chest knowing what piece of her heart she had managed to protect was crumbling to dust. _Somehow you managed to do it anyway, didn't you? I hate you, Sasuke Uchiha._

She gave a start as someone pounded on the door for the second time. This guest was more brazen than the last, they threw open the door and pounded into the kitchen, looking around frantically. Her azure eyes met with a pair almost the same shade, and in an instance Naruto was across the kitchen, pulling her close, wrapping his arms around her and protecting her like he always did.

"Usagi, I was just getting back and I saw the lights." He was breathless, how fast had he run when he saw? Usagi nearly sobbed, but she couldn't figure out why, "You're shaking, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Another wry smile touched her lips as she wrapped her pale arms around him and let his strength support her.

"I did."

**xXx**

Well. This one-shot has been bouncing around my skull, demanding to be written. I tried to resist, honestly. I will now withdraw back into my hole and continue working on my other stories currently vying for attention.

Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

It was hard, loving someone; especially when their heart already belonged to someone else.

Uzumaki Naruto leaned against the door frame, watching a certain blonde weave in and out of beds, straightening fresh sheets and changing out the flowers in the room. Back in their school days she had been a decent shinobi, but now she could seldom handle a kunai without those memories resurfacing. She had fallen into her second best talent, training under Tsunade to become a medical ninja.

She had always hated fighting anyway.

Usagi turned, smiling distractedly at him while she stuffed the dirty sheets she had removed into the hamper. "Didn't you just come back from a week long mission? You should be resting."

He shrugged but didn't answer, and she didn't pursue it. It was just another indication to him that something was off. Her words from the previous night still haunted him. He knew what had happened, it was so painfully obvious. _Sasuke was here_.

The only thing that could change Usagi's demeanor so drastically would be him. She normally moved quicker, hummed as she worked, chatted with him when he came by to visit. But her face was drawn, pensive, almost melancholy. The expression had been permanently etched into her face for the first few months after Sasuke left. Sakura cried often, became frantic, emotional; but Usagi, she just withdrew into herself, always looking sad.

_Damn you, Sasuke_.

Naruto had a crush on Sakura from way back when they were on the same team, but he met Usagi a while after that. She always came around looking for Sasuke, and at first he didn't like her, thinking she was just another 'fan girl' stalking his rather popular team mate. It didn't take long to realize this wasn't entirely true, and he started to like her.

She was different than Sakura. She was always smiling, that's the thing he remembered most. Unrelentingly kind, she never treated him differently like the other villagers or freaked out on him like Sakura tended to do.

And when Sasuke left, when he seen her heart break, he knew he never wanted to see her in pain. He realized he loved her.

"You look troubled. Are you okay?" Usagi dropped the last of the dirty linen into the now full hamper before she walked toward him. The melancholy in her expression was gone, replaced fully by her concern for his well being. Her hand reached out to touch his face, but he caught it in his own and pressed his lips against her palm.

Something compelled him. He had accepted their situation, eager at a chance to love Usagi. He knew that she had loved Sasuke, but he also knew that she hadn't chased after him. She never even asked how his missions went, if he had found any trace of the missing Uchiha. No, he was always finding her, wanting any excuse to visit her, to make sure she was alright. It had given him some kind of hope.

Yet the notion remained there, always, haunting him. Like a storm of uncertainty brewing in his heart. Thoughts like needles piercing him again and again. Does she see him when she looks at me? Does she think of him when we're together?

"Usagi," she was already frowning. He hated doing this, but he couldn't stop himself now. It hurt him too much. The words were bubbling up inside him, ready to overflow. "If Sasuke came home, would you go back to him?"

Naruto felt her reaction as much as he seen it. She jerked from him, holding her hand to her chest as if scalded, her face etched in turmoil. It was almost as though he physically struck her. Instantly he wanted to reach out, to take it back, but he couldn't. He had to know.

For a long time, Usagi didn't speak. She just looked at him, trying to figure out the question, or the motive behind it. Then, after what felt like an eternity, she stepped even closer to him. Her hands brought warmth to him as they cupped the sides of his face and pulled him to her until their foreheads touched.

"Naruto, I don't know why you love me. I ask myself how I got so lucky." She paused, smiling gently at the look on his face. He could not imagine how ridiculous it was. "It might be true that part of me is still in love with Sasuke."

He faltered, but she held on to him, not letting him escape. "But even if he came back here and repented a thousand times over, begged for forgiveness and slept on my doorstep every night, I would choose you. I love _you_, Naruto. I don't ever want to see you hurt, least of all by me. I mean that with all my heart."

The feeling that consumed him did so wholly, and it was indescribably wonderful. He reached up, his hand caressing the curve of her cheek as he closed the little remaining distance between them. Always gentle, no matter how strong he knew she was. His other hand nestled in the small of her back, pulling her as close as possible. It was in moments like these that his insecurities seemed foolish, that nothing could stand between the two of them.

As they finally broke apart, Usagi's forehead still pressed against his, her slightly panting breaths tickling against his cheeks, blue eyes glazed over staring straight into his, he wondered whether it would have mattered, even if she'd said yes.

**xXx**

I struggled with myself over whether to post up this second installment of Storm or not, but I figured I had finished it already, what harm could it do? I started it immediately after I posted Storm and completed it not long after, but I kind of liked the ending of the first part and wanted to leave it as is. Then I figured Naruto deserved to have his part told, so I am putting it out there.

I apologize for the plot hole in last chapter. I realize most of you were scratching your heads in the end there going, _Where the hell did Naruto come from at 2 in the morning?_ I got so caught up in the emotional scene writing it that I forgot to throw in the explanation that I had already laid out in my head. As mentioned in this chapter, he was coming back from a mission, which is partially the reason that Sasuke chanced coming to see Usagi then, because he knew Naruto would not be around. Anyway, I patched it up, no harm done. ;)

On a random note, I'd just like to say that I am really, _really_ not a Sasuke fan on the show. The fact that I keep indulging myself in the Usagi/Sasuke pairing baffles me.

Thank you to the kind reviewers of the first part and I assure you that there will not be a part three to this fiasco. Unless,_ gasp_! Gaara watches from afar, secretly in love with Usagi as well! (I'm kidding, it's not going to happen. :P)

Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura Haruno sighed as the stems she was tying fell apart in her hands. She dropped the herbs and brushed her fingers clean before swiping the back of her hand across her brow. Sweat had glued her short pink locks to her forehead and the sides of her face but the sun was unrelenting in its heat. Looking at her half-full basket, she frowned and turned to look at her partner's almost full one. Their third member, Ino Yamanaka, had wandered some distance away. Sakura hadn't seen the girl in some time.

Her eyes moved from the basket to the girl beside it. Her fingers were moving deftly over the same herbs Sakura was supposed to be collecting, tying and depositing them to the side like a second nature. She imagined Usagi had much more experience doing this while Ino and Sakura were away on missions. Lady Tsunade was known for her short temper and dismissed them on tasks like this often when she became frustrated teaching them medical ninjutsu. They had all learned not to complain.

Sakura focused on Usagi again. The long golden tresses that she used to wear in buns during their academy days had been braided over one shoulder to stay out of the way. Her cerulean eyes were entirely focused on the task at hand, framed by long dark lashes. She paused to wipe at her forehead much like Sakura had moments before, and Sakura caught herself thinking how much smaller it was than her own 'billboard brow,' as Ino often called it.

Scowling down at her green-tinged fingers, Sakura mentally scolded herself for slipping once more. How much time had she spent comparing herself to Usagi, trying desperately to find it; that one thing that let Usagi win? Was she prettier? It's true that when Usagi smiled, her heart-shaped face took on a glow that was somewhat mesmerizing. For a long time now, however, that smile was nearly nonexistent. Could it be her gentler nature? Patients always preferred the sunny blonde who was kind, endlessly patient, and always sympathetic to their problems, and with her natural talent for healing jutsu, extremely competent.

_I'm doing it again_. Sakura was pretty in her own right, even if her forehead was a bit large in proportion to her face and she was somewhat flat-chested in comparison to other girls her age. She accepted herself, had become a skilled ninja under Lady Tsunade's tutelage, was so much stronger than before.

And yet...

"Sakura-chan?" She jumped, startled, and looked up at Usagi again. The now full basket was in her lap, and she was eyeing Sakura's own mediocre efforts. "Would you like me to help you? I'm done over here." The blonde smiled, but it couldn't cut through the sadness that seemed to be lingering around her eyes recently, something that had dwindled since there was a Naruto and Usagi. Unable to work her vocal chords, Sakura just nodded. Usagi moved beside her and set to work, so Sakura did the same.

Sakura had never really considered Naruto in a romantic light. She found him annoying, obnoxious, and immature, even though he sometimes had his moments. Still, his unabashed pursuit of her had been flattering to her ego. But Usagi had taken that from her too, Naruto's and Sasuke's affections, even though she was on a different team, even though she wasn't as strong as Sakura, even though she had never even tried to take them.

"Sakura-chan, Sasuke came to see me." Sakura wasn't aware of the tears of frustration collecting in her eyes until her head snapped up and she focused them on Usagi, wide with disbelief. Her blue eyes were focused on her hands, no longer tying and storing herbs, full of something like guilt. "I'm not sure what he wanted. He didn't stay long. But I," Usagi paused and looked up at Sakura, her eyes steady where Sakura's were surely trembling, and said, "I know how you feel about him, so I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to know he's okay."

"What did he say? What did you say? Why didn't you make him stay?" These were just the first of the millions of questions that flooded Sakura's brain, the only ones she could formulate into comprehensible sentences.

"Sakura…" Usagi looked away from her again, frowning, while Sakura fought the urge to grab her and shake her, demanding answers. "He asked me why I didn't come that night, why I didn't try to make him stay here instead of seeking out Orochimaru."

"What did you say?" Sakura tried to keep her voice level. She didn't want to show her emotions now, of all times, and compromise the strength that she always struggled to convey. But as Usagi focused that set of endless eyes on her again, Sakura had the usual feeling that the blonde girl could read every emotion on her face regardless of how much or how little she showed it.

"I told him the truth Sakura. Let me tell you something that I believe about Sasuke, and it's entirely up to you whether you agree or disagree." Sakura felt something inside of her shiver; maybe her heart, maybe her soul, she couldn't tell. Usagi looked in her face just as the first tear slid down her cheek, and it occurred to Sakura that she had not seen the blonde girl cry since the day Sasuke left the village. "Sasuke will never give up his vendetta against his brother. He is full of anger and pain. He doesn't have the capacity to love someone else no matter what he thinks."

Usagi stopped and let the silence stretch for a moment, her gaze still direct but somehow far away, like she was collecting her thoughts, or remembering something. "There is no doubt in my mind that he will accomplish his goal. He has given everything, there's no way he can fail. I only fear what he will do once Itachi Uchiha is dead. I'm afraid he may lose his identity, his sense of purpose. I hope that he comes home, but I don't know that he will. I could have begged him to stay, Sakura, but he never would have. I know you probably hate me-"

"I don't." Usagi stopped this time, her eyes wide. Sakura pressed her hand over her mouth, attempting to stifle the sob rising in her throat. "I don't hate you, Usagi. Thank you for telling me about Sasuke." Sakura stood, and Usagi wordlessly passed her the basket before she set off at a run. The pink-haired girl didn't turn to look back at Usagi as she fled the field. She simply concentrated on running as fast as she could, back to village, back to her reality, ignoring the tears that were still streaming down her face.

She couldn't figure it out. What was Usagi trying to tell her? Was she just pathetic for trying to stop Sasuke that night, for continuing to chase him to this day? Why couldn't she just let go and move on like Usagi had?

_But had she really? _Sakura stopped as she reached the edge of the village, thinking. When was the last time Usagi had smiled? She couldn't even remember hearing her laugh, not like she would in their academy days, loud and infectious. On the outside Usagi gave every sign that she was content and moving on with her life, but she had undoubtedly changed.

"Sakura-chan? What's wrong?" Sakura looked up into a set of blue eyes and for a moment she thought that Usagi had followed her after all. But a second later she realized that it was Naruto looking down at her, his brow creased in worry.

"N-Nothing. I just," Sakura looked around and then remembered the basket in her hands. "I'm heading back to Lady Tsunade. I have to go." She waved and set off, leaving the puzzled Naruto behind. As she hopped over the rooftops, she realized for the first time that the basket in her hands was full.

xXx

Eh heh. I know, I said I was done. But I wanted to round it out with the final member of Team Kakashi. I've been watching more of Shippuden though and I have this crazy strong urge to flesh this three-part piece out into a full story. It would be posted separate from this story of course; I would still want this story to stand on its own. It's a whim, I'm not sure what will come of it, but let me know if you would like to see such a piece or if I should work on a totally new Naruto/SM piece.

By the way, my other stories are not dead, I promise! They will be updated soon. Thank you for your patience and for reading. (: By the way this is a piece I wrote in one sitting and I'm having a problem with my eyes right now so I can't proof read it very well. Expect some mistakes.


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